JeanneLauree

This may be a bit of a hodgepodge tonight kind of an Irish stew with salt bread– I think that’s what they are advertising it neater for St. Patty’s day.  I’m going to go get some on Monday with my friend Christa.  Wow, what an amazing person she is.  Escaped a polygamous marriage with her three kids and was able to keep them healthy, mentally and emotionally.  She met the most fabulous guy a year later and married him a year after that.  She is brilliant and beautiful a redhead in all of the best ways imaginable about redheads.  Her husband, Al, is as beautiful as she is, but he…

Tonight was the first class of an eight week series of bereavement meetings.  The company I work for makes them available to families of our hospice patients, and, anyone in the Salt Lake Valley who is grieving the loss of a loved one. This is the fourth series of eight week get-togethers.  I’m reluctant to call them classes, because that insinuates that something is being taught.  There is a format, handouts for each week, and assignments such as journaling or activities for self-care.  It’s just that to call this a class somehow diminishes the alchemy of what takes place each week.  The classes have been small, less than 10 participants. …

The universe has a way of putting an idea or concept in front of me over and over until I finally get it. This week, it was about unmet expectations and upsets. The discussion started for me as I was driving to an appointment in rush-hour traffic, and the driver to my right would not allow me to merge in front of him and I missed my exit.  I stayed mad at a total stranger for over an hour and a half.  As I was complaining to my friend Susie, I had an aha moment; I was upset because I expected someone to behave a certain way and they did…

As a hospice chaplain, I have assisted hundreds of families with the process of writing an obituary.  Most mortuaries will provide surviving family members with obituary formats that consist of a simple fill in the blanks template that produces a perfectly acceptable result.  If all you want is the basic generic version, it can be easily achieved. The challenge comes from producing a life sketch that is engaging, and still supplies the necessary basic information.  I have a few favorites. There was the obituary where the patient who died ended up with three obituaries; one by the first wife, one by the second wife, and one written by the kids!…